


The Dance

by ByAStream



Category: Agent Carter (TV), Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Background Sharon Carter/Wanda Maximoff, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-09
Updated: 2020-06-09
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:28:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24627010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ByAStream/pseuds/ByAStream
Summary: Steve returns to the past to live out his life with Peggy, only to learn a lesson in moving on
Relationships: Peggy Carter/Daniel Sousa, Steve Rogers/Reader
Kudos: 55





	The Dance

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on tumblr: jbbarnesnnoble.tumblr.com

The autumn breeze swirled around the group gathered by the platform. You shared a look with Bucky as Steve stepped to the platform. Steve had become one of your best friends in the years since the Avengers brought you in, to the point that you had followed him in his quest to save Bucky. The two of you had been tiptoeing around something more. He had dated Sharon Carter briefly, which had fizzled out quickly because the chemistry wasn’t there. Not with Steve. You knew it would be only a few moments before Steve returned but you couldn’t help but feel like things were fundamentally changing. Bucky had a look of guilt on his face as you glanced at him when Steve vanished. 

Bucky hadn’t felt anxiety in this way in years. It wasn’t the kind of anxiety he associated with the trauma he’d experienced. No. This was the kind of anxiety he had when Steve’s ma died. The worry he’d had about what would happen to his best friend. He knew Steve had no intention of returning, that he planned to find Peggy. Bucky had tried to talk him out of it. Peggy had gotten married, had kids, with someone who wasn’t Steve. He didn’t think it was right to disrupt that. 

He looked at you. Your lower lip caught between your teeth as you stared at the platform, your hands running up your crossed arms. Your foot was tapping out an unsteady rhythm. He watched you for a moment longer as the realization set in. He looked away. He knew Steve had been interested in you. It was something they had talked about in the time between Shuri removing the triggers and the arrival of Thanos before the Snap. He hadn’t been surprised when he found out Steve hadn’t made a move in the five years since the Snap. And now he never would. ‘ _ Steve is an idiot if he can’t see that she loves him,’  _ Bucky thought to himself.

When Steve didn’t appear right away, Sam and Bruce were concerned. Bucky glanced toward the bench, but no one was there. You felt tears welling. It wasn’t hurt that he wasn’t back. Bucky’s slumped shoulders told you he’d known. It was the fact that Steve hadn’t trusted you enough to tell you what he was doing. 

You and Steve were complicated. You’d given him your heart long before you realized it. Falling for Steve Rogers was easy. You weren’t sure getting over him would be, even if you’d never been together. You’d always put the focus on work first, dreams of a relationship second. And the past five years had been a focus on work, on finding normal again in a not so normal world. You wondered, for a moment, if he would have come back if you had only had the guts to tell him how you felt.

You thought about your grandmother in that moment, wishing desperately that she was there. She and your grandfather had adopted your mother when she was a teenager, their older children long since grown. You played with the locket around your neck. She had left it to you when she passed, a gift from your grandfather to her when they had found out they were expecting their first child. She always had the best advice, and she was why you had joined SHIELD, joined the Avengers. 

“He’s not coming back, is he?” you asked Bucky, trying to keep the tears at bay.

“I’m sorry,” he said. 

“Yeah, I’m sure,” you said, a bite to your tone. You sighed before apologizing. 

* * *

Steve glanced around. New York. December 1948. As the suit retracted to reveal his civilian clothing, he set off to find Peggy. He wasn’t sure what he could say to her that wouldn’t sound crazy. He was walking past the phone company when he bumped into a man. 

“Sorry,” Steve said, moving to continue on his way. He wasn’t sure where to go first, where to even begin looking. He had to go about this carefully. He was presumed dead. Appearing out of nowhere was bound to raise suspicion, and there was only so much he could say. Guilt weighed on him about how much he couldn’t say, how much he had to sit back and let happen, lest he change the outcome. 

“Captain Rogers?” the man asked. Steve froze. 

“I think you’re mistaken. Captain Rogers died in the war,” Steve said. The man’s eyes narrowed. He felt like there was something off about the man who looked like one of America’s most well-known heroes. 

“I’m going to need you to come with me,” he said. Steve made a split-second decision and was surprised when the man dodged his punch and managed to get the upper hand. He was led through what looked like a phone company and into a room that was emblazoned with S.H.I.E.L.D. 

“No one says a word to Carter or Sousa about whose look-a-like we have here, got it?” Agent Thompson said after securing Steve in the interrogation room. He was the head of the New York division of S.H.I.E.L.D. After everything that had happened the past few years, he owed Peggy and Daniel this, making sure that whatever this was, whoever this was, wasn’t about to disrupt their lives. 

“You sure that’s a good idea?” someone asked him. Jack glared at the agent, before heading back to the interrogation room. He paced the hall outside the room, formulating his game plan. He knew he had to proceed with caution. How was it possible that Steve Rogers or at least a very convincing look-a-like was there, looking older, but very much like the missing man? Jack frowned at the thought that the man was telling the truth, that he just happened to look like Rogers. That was a mess he didn’t want to deal with. 

Steve took in the room around him. It was a standard interrogation room. If he wanted to, he could get out, but that would risk confirming what the agent suspected. He wasn’t willing to have that conversation with someone who wasn’t Peggy. The door opened and the agent entered, sitting down across from Steve.

“Who are you?” Agent Thompson asked.

“None of your business,” Steve replied, glaring at the man. 

“It is my business. You show up in New York, looking like Captain America? What’s more, you appeared out of thin air. What I don’t understand is how the ID we found in your wallet says it was issued in 2023. Or how it has a Stark Industries logo on it,” he said. Steve frowned. He had forgotten he’d had his ID for the compound in his wallet, that he’d had his wallet on him at all. Agent Thompson stared him down.

“What do you want me to say here?” Steve asked. He knew he was backed into a corner. He tried to come up with a plausible reason for it.

“You can start with who you are,” Thompson said. Steve sighed, unaware of the man stepping into the room behind the glass, a frown on his face.

“You know the answer to that,” Steve said. Jack slammed his hand down on the table. 

“I know that you have an ID claiming to be Steve Rogers from the year 2023. Forgive me if that seems a little unbelievable. So who are you really? Why are you here?” Jack asked. Steve sighed. He knew there was no way out of this, no way of convincing this man of his identity. 

“My name is Steven Grant Rogers. I was born July 4, 1918. I’m here because it’s where I belong,” Steve said, not breaking eye contact with the other man. 

Daniel Sousa had arrived at S.H.I.E.L.D’s New York division to go over a report with Jack.

“Oh, he’s uh, he’s in the middle of an interrogation,” another agent said when Daniel asked where Jack was. He frowned. Daniel had been unaware of any ongoing cases that would require an interrogation. With Peggy out on leave, an area S.H.I.E.L.D was ahead of the curve on, Daniel had taken up her responsibilities in the field, keeping her in the loop when he was called away from home. 

“Who’s he interrogating?” Daniel asked. The agent shared a look with another agent. 

“It might be better if we show you,” the agent replied, knowing there was no way he could prevent Sousa from finding out. The agent led him to the interrogation room, opening the door to the observation room. Daniel froze when he saw an older version of Steve Rogers on the other side of the glass. It wasn’t possible. 

Jack emerged a short while later. Daniel met him in the hall and directed him toward his office. When the door was shut, Daniel looked at Jack expectantly. Jack ran a hand through his hair.

“I know what it looks like,” Jack said. 

“It looks like you have Captain America locked up in an interrogation room,” Daniel said. 

“I didn’t get much out of him. We found an ID with his name on it, dated 2023. The only question he answered was about his name. He said he’s here because it’s where he belongs. He wants to see Peggy,” Jack said. He braced himself for any reaction, unsure of how Sousa would react.

“Then let him. She can handle it. If it is him, maybe she’ll get to have closure. If it isn’t, well, you’re familiar with her punch,” Daniel teased. Jack shook his head.

“Peggy can’t know. Daniel be reasonable. She’s due any time now,” Jack said. 

“I don’t think that’s your concern, Thompson. I know my wife. If we keep this from her, she’ll be furious,” Daniel said. Outside the office, he could hear the arrival of Peggy and he sighed. She never was good about taking a break and letting others handle things. It was one of the things he loved about her. It was also one of the things that had been driving him up the wall as her due date neared. The door to Thompson’s office opened and there she stood, arms crossed with a look of annoyance.

“Howard called,” she said simply. Jack bit back a curse. He knew he shouldn’t have informed Stark of the man locked up in interrogation. He had done so as a courtesy, given the fact that it was Stark’s name emblazoned on the ID card.

“Peggy, I can explain,” Jack said. She raised an eyebrow.

“Please do. I would love to hear about why you didn’t think to inform me of who you have in the interrogation room,” she replied. Peggy and Daniel had returned to New York shortly after learning about her pregnancy. Their support system was there. As it was, S.H.I.E.L.D required a fair bit of travel. 

“I was walking in when I heard something down an alley. He appeared out of nowhere wearing some strange suit that morphed into the clothes he’s wearing. I followed him until he was out front and escorted him in,” Jack explained. 

“You realize how ridiculous that sounds,” Peggy said.

“I know. I know. It’s why I didn’t want to tell you until I figured this out. Steve Rogers died. Whatever that thing is, it’s not Rogers. You can’t go in there, Carter,” Jack said. Daniel shot him a look and a wave of regret washed over him. He knew he shouldn’t have said that. Telling Margaret Carter she couldn’t do something would only drive her to do that very thing. She turned on her heel and headed toward the interrogation room, the two men trailing behind her, protesting what she was about to do. Before she opened the door, she turned to look at them.

“I’m the only one in this building who can determine if he is who he says he is. If you’ll excuse me, gentlemen,” she said, before heading in. 

She wasn’t sure what she expected. He looked just as handsome as he had before that fateful mission. His hair was longer, he looked slightly older, like he’d seen more things that haunted him. When he looked at her, she felt a pang in her heart. She loved Daniel wholeheartedly, but there would always be part of her that loved the man in front of her, or at least, the man whatever was in front of her was pretending to be. 

“Peggy,” he said, his voice barely more than a whisper as he took in the sight of her. His eyes moved from her face down to the obvious bump. His breathing hitched momentarily. He felt a pang in his chest as he saw the ring. She was married. She was married and having a child. She wore a locket that looked familiar, but he couldn’t place it. 

“I don’t know who you think you are. Masquerading as Steve Rogers,” she said, her tone even.

“It’s me. Peggy, it’s me,” he said.

“How? Steve Rogers died during the war,” she said, her arms crossed. 

“I...I can’t tell you how,” he said. She frowned. She needed answers. She needed to know. Her head and her heart were engaged in battle. She had mourned his loss. She had moved forward. Now there he seemed to be, and the progress she had made, the stability and happiness she had found in life after Steve Rogers was threatening to unravel. 

“What’s something only Steve would know?” she asked. 

“Fondue...when I went...when I went to save Bucky and the 107th...I thought fondue meant that you and Howard had been together...intimately,” he said, his cheeks tinge pink. Even after the years spent in the 21st century, the memory was still enough to make him feel a little embarrassed. Peggy uncrossed her arms at that. It wasn’t something that was in the books, but it still wasn’t enough for her.

“When you were on that mission, what was the last thing you promised me?” she asked. He smiled at her, though it held an air of sadness.

“A dance. I promised you a dance. 8PM at the Stork Club,” he said. Her eyes widened. It was him. She felt happiness, sadness, anger, and a host of other emotions at once. 

“It really is you,” she said, shock resonating through her. Though part of her heart would always be his, she wasn’t in love with him, not anymore. Daniel was her husband, the man she had fallen for. 

“And you...you’re married now,” he said. She gave him a small smile. 

“Yes. He’s a good man. An honorable man. We met working for the S.S.R after the war,” she explained. Steve nodded. As she spoke, he saw the happiness she had, the pure joy when she told him about some of the things that had happened since the end of the war. He started to doubt that going back and staying back was the right idea. 

“Steve? How did you end up here?” she asked him. He sighed.

“I can’t tell you much. It has too much potential to cause a ripple effect,” he said.

“Are you saying what I think you are?” she asked.

“Depends on what you think that is. It’s dangerous and unstable at best,” he said.

“Time travel...but if that’s the case...you’re still alive...out there somewhere. Where did they find the plane?” she asked. He shook his head. He knew he couldn’t tell her. 

“Just...let history happen. It doesn’t matter when they found me. Only that they did. I was selfish coming here. Lost in what could have been instead of what was in front of me,” he said, his voice trailing off. He thought of you. He had avoided his feelings for you, hung up on the past, on Peggy, on the life he believed he had been owed. Now that it was in front of him, he knew. His place wasn’t in the past. It was in the present, with you. With Bucky. With Sam. With the family that had been pieced together to save the world. 

He stayed long enough to be snuck out of the building and to the Sousa home for dinner. The air was light. Daniel, as it turned out, had been a soldier Steve had rescued in ‘43 when he liberated the prisoners of war. 

“I have some paperwork to finish up. I’ll be quick,” Daniel said, standing and placing a kiss on his wife’s cheek after they finished dinner and retired to the sitting room. Peggy had put a record on. The music played as Steve and Peggy sat looking at one another. Neither seemed to want to move, knowing it would be the last time they saw one another, that this time, they were having their chance to say goodbye, to find closure. 

“When are you going back?” she asked him. 

“As soon as I leave here,” he said. A moment passed between them, not a word said as they took it in, committing it to memory. 

“You owe me a dance,” she reminded him. Steve smiled a little. Closure, this was closure. And so they danced. His hand on her waist, one of her hands in his. He saw Daniel standing in the archway, a small nod sent his way by the other man. The song ended sooner than Steve liked. 

“You’ll find your happiness, I know it,” Peggy said as they moved apart. 

“I think I already did. She...she’s incredible and I’ve ignored my feelings for too long,” Steve said.

“Tell her how you feel, Steve. Before it’s too late. A lifetime of dances is in front of you. Don’t make her wait any longer than you have,” she told him. Daniel returned to the room a few minutes later, the trio sitting and talking a while more. 

Steve walked out the door feeling closure in a way he hadn’t after Peggy’s death. He thought of you. He often did. The two of you were close. Then Thanos happened and time travel became more than an abstract idea. He thought the past was what he had wanted. But it was clear more than ever that it wasn’t. 

When he reappeared, it had only been ten minutes in the present. Bucky pulled Steve in for a hug, surprised that he had returned. Sam lightheartedly punched his shoulder while Bruce asked what had happened.

“I got caught up with some things and missed the time. It got a little messy back there,” Steve said, not wanting to admit what happened. It was for him and him alone. 

You looked at Steve, a knowing expression on your face. You had an idea of what had happened. What confused you was why he would come back, if he’d gone back to be with her. You were surprised when Steve swept you up into a hug before kissing you.

“What’s that for?” you asked him when he pulled away from you. He smiled as he stepped back, his eyes meeting yours.

“I missed you,” he said. You laughed.

“You were gone for ten minutes. And that still doesn’t explain why you kissed me,” you told him. He shook his head.

“Doesn’t mean I can’t miss you. Going back...going back made me think. I don’t want to miss my chance with you. I don’t want to be too late. I don’t want to miss the dance,” he said. You and Steve had a weird tension between you. It had been a thing for a while. You’d thought, once upon a time, that he was going to ask you out. But he never did. 

“Alright, slow down there Garth Brooks. Are you alright, Steve?” you asked, concerned about how he was acting. You didn’t think there was something physically wrong. But whatever had happened, seemed to be weighing on him. The Steve you knew didn’t just go around kissing people because he missed them. That would be weird. The mental image drew a slight smile to your lips before you refocused. 

“I will be,” he said with a nod. 

“We’re talking about that kiss later. Don’t think I’m letting that go,” you told him as Bucky and Sam made their way back over to the two of you. You hadn’t noticed the two of them had walked away with Bruce, giving you and Steve privacy to talk. 

“So, dinner? Barton said something about pizza,” Sam said. You laughed a little.

“Pizza fixes everything,” you replied. You couldn’t get your mind off Steve and how he was acting. He was lost in his thoughts, something you weren’t used to seeing from him. You wondered where he was in his head. What remained of the team had gathered for dinner. 

Sharon and Wanda were cuddled up on a loveseat. Both women had been Snapped away. They had been together only a few months when it happened. You were happy for them. Your cousin deserved happiness, and happiness was what she had found with Wanda. You touched your locket, thinking of the photo it held, of your grandparents on their wedding day. Steve didn’t know who your grandmother was, only that your mother had been adopted by her parents later in their lives. 

“Hey, do you know where that book Aunt Peggy left you is? Was it at the compound?” Sharon asked you. Steve looked between the two of you with confusion. Bucky raised an eyebrow at the comment while Sam chuckled to himself as he took a sip of his drink. This was going to be interesting. Sam was one of the few who knew that Peggy was your grandmother, which was why Steve’s interest in you amused him to no end. Peggy may not have been related to you by blood, but you were Peggy Carter’s granddaughter.

“You think I’d keep that at the compound? Mom has it. I trust keeping it with my folks more than keeping it at a military installation, thanks,” you replied. 

“Aunt Peggy? You’re related to Peggy?” Steve asked. You rubbed the back of your neck.

“It’s never come up? Though, I thought you would have clued in when I was at the funeral,” you said, eyebrow raised. Steve’s cheeks tinged pink.

“Oh my god. You...you thought I was there as a supportive friend,” you said.

“And as an agent who worked with her. I remember you said you learned a lot of what you know from her,” Steve said quietly. You tried to keep your laughter in. You thought it had been obvious, especially with how close you were to Sharon. 

“Natasha figured it out within a week of knowing me, without looking at my file, though that information was redacted,” you explained. You wore a sad smile as you thought of Natasha. She had been one of your closest friends. 

_ “I wonder if Cap’s just wired to fall for Carter women,” Natasha said. You looked at her with confusion as the two of you sparred. _

_ “What?” you asked. You had never divulged that information to anyone, including Nat. You knew it wasn’t on your file either. You had wanted to make it based on your merit, not for being Peggy Carter’s granddaughter, something Fury had honored.  _

_ “I figured it out the first week we met. Your locket for one. In old photos of her, she wears it. You have some of her mannerisms too. You may not be related to her by blood, but there is no denying you’re her granddaughter. And there’s no denying Steve Rogers can’t escape his attraction to women in the Carter family tree,” she teased. You felt your cheeks warm. You wouldn’t deny that you had been jealous of the attraction Steve had to your cousin.  _

_ “Shut up,” you said, throwing a half-hearted punch.  _

“Why didn’t you just tell me?” Steve asked. You shrugged.

“I always wanted to make a name for myself, without being in her shadow. And I have,” you said. 

Later in the evening, after everyone had split off to do their own thing, you found yourself sitting outside with Steve. A comfortable silence filled the space between the two of you. 

“So you went back and saw her,” you said, a small smile on your face. Steve nodded.

“I thought I wanted what I left in the past. I couldn’t have been more wrong. What I want is here. In the present. With you. I loved her, but that’s it. I loved her. I’ve spent more time here, in the present, with you, with our friends, than I did with her. I was lost in my nostalgia for another time that I let myself believe that was where I belonged,” he said. You nodded. It made sense to you. You knew he had struggled at times. The world was a vastly different place than when he had gone into the ice. 

“Did you get your dance?” you asked him. He frowned.

“What?” he asked. 

“Grandma...Peggy. She told me about you when I was growing up. She’d watch me sometimes. And she’d tell me about you. When I got older, she told me the real story about what happened that day,” you explained. 

“She talked sense into me,” he said. You smiled at that.

“Sounds like her alright,” you said. The two of you sat talking for a while, laying it all on the table. Your fears. Your feelings. Your hopes for the future. 

A year later found your friends gathered at the lakeside. You had invited a few close family, and that was enough. Your locket fell nicely with the dress you had chosen. A ceremony filled with laughter and tears as you and Steve became husband and wife. 

“May I have this dance?” Steve asked after the two of you were introduced at the reception. You grinned at him.

“For you? You can have this dance and every one to come,” you said, pulling him into a kiss as friends and family whistled and clapped. 

This was a dance worth waiting for, Steve thought as he spun you around before pulling you close again, a content smile on his face. 


End file.
